Against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night, the Detroit Lions can do two things: they can prove that they stack up well against a fellow contender, and they can be one of very few NFC teams that have managed to take down the AFC North giants over the last five years.
Baltimore has only dropped four contests to NFC teams since 2020, and have beaten teams in the conference 20 times. They’ve been completely dominant over them, and that includes against the Lions. The Ravens have taken them down twice over that stretch, with their last win coming by a whopping final score of 38-6.
Detroit has the tools to defeat Baltimore on the road, but it’s going to come down to certain players performing at a high level against the Ravens’ speedy offense and their tough nosed defense.
3 Lions that can flip the script on the Ravens’ NFC dominance in Week 3
Aidan Hutchinson
The time for Hutchinson to get back on track towards becoming an All-Pro player in 2025 is against the Ravens. Hutchinson had his first sack since Week 5 of the 2024 season against the Chicago Bears in Week 2, and he was so close to getting a few more if not for Caleb Williams’ speediness in evading the pressure.
Obviously, Lamar Jackson poses the same threat, and he has ridiculous passing accuracy to actually make Hutchinson pay for not getting him down on the ground, unlike Williams. Hutchinson can wreck this game for Baltimore if he manages to make them pay for not double teaming him. His physicality can open things up for Detroit’s offense, and ease things for their secondary.
Terrion Arnold
In that same vein, Arnold has the chance to finally put himself on the board for the Lions this season with a turnover or with multiple defended passes in this contest. He’s been targeted heavily so far this season, specifically 15 times. He’s allowed 10 catches on those targets for 175 yards and a score, per DJ Siddiqi of RG.com.
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He’ll have the tall task of likely guarding Zay Flowers, one of Jackson’s favorite targets. If he can make the night difficult for him, it ups the odds of Detroit managing to stop Jackson’s arm from dictating the game.
Jahmyr Gibbs
Gibbs finally saw some breakthrough against the Bears in Week 2, where he featured a ridiculous stop and go run against their defense that had his defender break his ankles. He’s only had 113 rushing yards on the season through two contests, being held to just 19 yards against the Green Bay Packers in Week 1.
Baltimore is not going to have one of their key pass rushers, Kyle Van Noy, in the starting lineup in Week 3 due to injury, and one of their best defensive ends in Nnamdi Madubuike may be a bit hobbled for the contest, as well. The Ravens have held their opponents to just 4.2 yards per carry on the year so far, so Gibbs has a good shot at finally impacting the contest against a contender this season against Baltimore.
